Wow! What a Day

 When was the last time you spoke highly about yourself? After all, do we not get to celebrate ourselves when we feel like we have done something incredible or we feel awesome about ourselves? I am not one to brag, but today I feel I need to as I am a part of something truly awesome, that I would like to share.
 A couple weeks back my wife and I attended a wedding, along with our kids, for my nephew. The wedding was great and the reception was incredible. The bride was beautiful and the groom, well, he showed up on time, and he looked like a member of the "Rat Pack", especially with his crew of groomsmen around him. The grooms brother sang "Walking in Memphis" and was amazing, maybe even better than the live band. However, this is not what I want to brag about.
 My mother in law provided us with a prayer prior to dinner and my sister in law, grooms mom, offered up an emotional speech that combined humour and tears. My brother in law, grooms dad, welcomed the bride to the family, while avoiding getting all emotional. Again, not what I want to brag about.
 Friends of the newlyweds made this a night to remember through their stories, dancing, singing, and most importantly laughter. It didn't hurt that the bar was well stocked, the beer was cold and there was enough wine to keep glasses full, all night. Upon entry into the reception hall there was a candy bar set up, allowing us adults to indulge in our kids favourite treats. There is nothing like a handful of jelly beans with a rum and coke to wash them down, followed by a tasty shot to help level off the sugar rush. Once again, not what I want to brag about.
 This was an incredible wedding, with an amazing newlywed couple surrounded by incredible friends and family. With that being said my day was made by the following six people.

Wow!

 A beautiful wife, who looked stunning in her dress, and four amazing looking kids. Not to mention the handsome dad, I thought I cleaned up well. My daughter was a beautiful flower girl and the boys looked like secret service. I am very proud of my family and this day they all looked incredible, a day I will never forget.

Happy Birthday to Me

  Birthdays, they come around every year whether we like it or not.  Personally, I don't have an issue with my birthday coming around, even though I am 45 as of yesterday, as it is the day I can count on my mother in law to provide me with a liquid birthday gift.  In fact this year she went overboard and provided me with options, and all I need is the ice and some mix.  45 may be an age when you are expected to be mature, however, I will continue to suck up to my mother in law for many more years to come.

I guess she thought I was thirsty.

  So, now that I have enjoyed a little of my gift I thought I would share some of my birthday with you as it was one of my most memorable.  To start, there was the traditional breakfast in bed, which this year was just like the commercial where the kids make everything themselves and you're not certain where it came from.  All said and done I am still standing.  From there I spent the balance of the day doing what every normal guy wants to do.  I helped in organizing the house, I went shopping, completed mowing the lawn, folded laundry (lots of laundry) and I vacuumed and mopped the floors.  To my wifes credit she did work with the kids to make certain the house was cleaned, she organized all the kids school books that they brought home, she made an awesome dinner (salmon and salad), and cleaned the kitchen.  All of this only three weeks after surgery, quite the woman. 
  Now seeing it was my birthday I made a decision to do things a little different when it came to gifts.  After getting the okay with my wife, I purchased six water guns and wrapped each one in a themed wrapping paper which the kids immediatley seperated amongst themselves.  It was so cool that they thought mom had wrapped them this way so I would know who they came from, when in fact I wrapped them and they were actually for each of them.  The look on their faces when they opened them, thinking they were helping me, was priceless.  You could see the excitement, but also confusion, on their faces until I said they were for them.  I opened my gift, which was two more water guns.  After all, the parents must protect themselves somehow.
  Now finally, I had one more gift.  For my birthday I didn't ask for any gifts, as for this year I was doing the giving.  So with that in mind and a little help from the kids I presented my wife with her gift.  Some things about my wife that some people don't know are that she works her butt off to support our family, she is a great mom and wife and she has a husband that doesn't express his love and admiration enough.  So really, who deserves the gift? 
  I love my wife and kids and the best gift I can get for my birthday is spending the day with all of them.  Seriously, why are you laughing, I didn't mean the whole 24 hours, after all my mother in laws gift was waiting for me. 
  Thank you for the well wishes I have received from many friends, they are appreciated.  Happy birthday to me. 

Hospital Visits

  Ah yes, a visit to the hospital, nothing better except for maybe pulling my own teeth, unless you are the patient then it is loads of fun.  Over the past months I have had the privilege of pulling my own teeth, sorry, I mean visiting the hospital, on a number of occasions, and I can honestly say "take a sweater with you because it is cold in there".


What do the red ones do?

  As a patient you have the anticipation of whatever is about to happen, which can be very overwhelming right up until the meds kick in and than it can be a real trip, if you remember anything at all.  To think you can go through surgery exposing yourself to the world, okay maybe only a handful of people, get wheeled through the hospital half naked, and not care, throw up on yourself and if lucky someone else, still not caring, have a bowel movement as loud as you want and still not care, because you are a patient.  What about us, the visitors, the family members and friends that spend the day waiting for our loved ones? 

Nasty memories

  Arrival time 5:30am, surgery starts at 8:00am, recovery time 11:00-12:00, and finally sent home or admitted, depending on surgery, with a pocketful of meds to kill the pain and blur the coming days.  Now lets look at this from the other side.  Arrival time 5:30am, sit, surgery at 8:00am, go get a coffee and sit, recovery time 11:00-12:00, sit and wait for the doctor to tell you where to go and sit some more.  Finally, if admitted, you get to sit and watch your loved one sleep and if you are really lucky you will have another patient in the room that has a portable commode, and uses it, a lot.  When I say a lot, I mean the paint is peeling off the wall and the pages of the book you are trying to read are curling at the corners.  It is at this point that you realize that pulling your own teeth really can't be that bad after all.
  To start with, lazy boy chairs for the people visiting and if that is not possible than there needs to be a drug that will help keep our butts from going numb while sitting all day.  As well, disposable gas masks are required because that was nasty and no one should be subjected to something so horrific.  Finally, a bar, for anyone that is staying more than 5 hours, as a cold beverage is the only med we are ever going to get.  
  When the day is said and done it is all about the patient and making certain that they are okay and looked after.  Besides, if you are good at looking after the patient and keeping track of their meds than when the going gets tough they won't miss one or two pain killers that you slip into your own drink, not to mention the extra sleeping pill you slip into their drink.  After all, the patient needs rest and the nurse needs happy thoughts.  If you have multiple patients and no access to meds than it would be best to consider yourself lost and prepare the hospital as you are the next patient, for a long, long time.
 

10KM (killing me) Run

 I have not done this for a while so stay with me as I attempt a new blog.
 It was Saturday night before my very first 10km race and do you think I could sleep?  Not a chance as I could not get past the feeling in my gut from the three pieces of cake I ate with the kids.  For all you runners write this down, "no cake the night before a race".
 Sleep eventually came and so did 7am, really quick, my wake up time to prepare for the upcoming 10KM's.  I felt great and after a small bowl of cereal and a bottle of water I was ready to go.  The only one awake from my cheering section was Mutt, my 6 year old son, leaving me with doubts about them making it to the race.  I should have known better as my wife knew the importance of this race and managed to wrangle up the kids, without feeding them, and made it on time.  As for me I made it to the race in plenty of time to get comfortable with my surroundings and properly prepare for the race.

My nipples are sore!

 What is involved in prepping for a race you ask?  First is washroom break #1 (tip given to me was to always bring your own T.P. as porta potties are not reliable), than check in your bag (hopefully you won't need that T.P. anymore), go for a 5-10 minute run to help loosen up the muscles and get your heart rate up, some light stretching of legs and, for me, shoulders, washroom break #2 to clear out the bladder, then head to the start line.  When you hear there is 5 minutes remaining to start time you have one last chance for washroom break #3 (which cannot happen at the 5km mark of your race as fellow runners don't like you peeing in the bushes or on a lamp post).
 The gun goes off and I now start slowly, working my way through the runners that should be further back, building to a comfortable pace.  At the 2.5km mark I think how previous races I am half way home, but not today, today I am a long way from my turnaround.  As the lead runners pass me on their way back I think how it must be very cool to run at that pace and still have something left at the end, but I also think how I am 20 years older and only been running for a year, excuses have started.  At the turn around I think of my nephews and how a couple weeks earlier they ran 10k in 44 and 46 minutes.  To think that up until this moment I actually liked these guys and now I want them to get fat and old, maybe just for a week.

Cheering section

  "Your almost there" is something you hear as you get close to the end and all I want to yell back is "than you finish the race for me".  Today, it is a comforting thing to hear as I am looking forward to seeing my cheering section waiting for me near the finish.  As I run the final 100 metres I see the kids and my wife cheering me on and I run past them for hi-fives from all of them.  I have never felt better at a finish line than I did today.
 To my nephews all I can say is congrats on your run and don't worry I will let you win the next one as well.  To my cheering section, I could not ask for anything better, I love all of them and they inspire me every day.  I only hope my running inspires them to get active and stay active.